The Bayou City loves the Bard. Each summer, thousands of Houstonians flock to Miller Outdoor Theatre to experience the Houston Shakespeare Festival. This year marks the 38th anniversary of the popular event, which delivers free performances featuring noted guest artists.  

This year's event is dedicated to the memory of one of its founders, former UH School of Theatre & Dance director Sidney Berger. Berger passed away in February.

For more information on performances and tickets, please click here.  

After two decades of bringing jazz flavors from throughout the world to Downtown Houston, the tunes are still playing on, with new notes on the scale. From August 2 to August 4, 2013, the 23rd Annual Houston International Jazz Festival kicks off Houston's Jazz Month.

The event's all-star lineup includes Jonathan Butler, Elan Trotman, performing collectively as the "Soul of Summer" in addition to student performers known as the Summer Jazz Workshop All-Stars and local returning acts such as the Texas Brass Band and Nicaraguan-inspired jazz by Yelba Heaton Roman.

First-time festival performers include the energetic Los Skarnales band, and fusion rock and soul artist,Sydnee-Jane.

For more information on performances and events, please click here.  

Southwest  Schools, a free public charter school in District J, would like to welcome Dr. Stephen Appea as the new principal of Southwest Middle and High School.

For more than two and a half decades, Dr. Appea helped to educate several generations of inner city public school children in New York City. He has held the positions of teacher, staff developer, district social studies coordinator, assistant principal and principal of an elementary and intermediate school in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, NY.

Dr. Appea has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the City University of New York. He has been an adjunct instructor of education at Queens College and an adjunct professor of educational leadership at Hunter College.

Dr. Appea's current interests include integrating technology into instruction, developing cognitive and emotional intelligence skills as well as culturally oriented ways of engaging children in their history.

Dr. Appea is the author of:  True Clues: Famous African Americans. Educational Impressions 2009.

Dr. Appea has been awarded many awards that include:

• United States Congress Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Yvette Clarke in recognition of outstanding and invaluable service as a principal to the community of Ocean Hill Brownsville
• New York State Senate Citation for Exemplary Service as a principal from Senator Eric Adams
• NYC DOE District-23 CEC President's Award
• U.S. Senator Charles Schumer Award for commitment to NYC children and families

By now you may have heard the news about TweetMyJobs Houston! - a new online jobs platform powered by TweetMyJobs that revolutionizes recruitment by incorporating mobile and social media. In April Mayor Parker and the Office of Business Opportunity partnered with TweetMyJobs to launch this free tool to job seekers and small and medium size businesses throughout Houston.

To date, the platform's success has shown to be impressive. More than 20,000 job seekers have signed up, over 400 local businesses have registered with the platform, and more than 150,000 jobs are currently available through TweetMyJobs Houston! in the Houston metro area.

Small and medium size businesses in our region are taking advantage of this unique platform, which allows employers to connect directly with qualified candidates through social media. For job seekers, TweetMyJobs Houston! provides access to relevant opportunities instantly and directly and even allows for push notifications so new opportunities are brought to job seekers' attention right away.